But: In Hebrew the common conjunction is used here, but in this context it may be translated by a transition word showing that something contrary to normal expectations takes place. In addition to But, it has been rendered “However” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) and “Nevertheless” (New International Version).

Every nation still made gods of its own: The words every nation refer to the different ethnic groups that made up the new settlers. The people from Babylon, Cuthah, Hamath, Ivvah and Sepharvaim came to Samaria with their own particular deities that are named and described in the following verses.

The translation of the word still may be best incorporated in the verb form in the receptor language. The idea is that these people “persevered in making gods for themselves.” In Hebrew there is no separate word corresponding to the word still in English, but this sense is expressed by a sequence of two verb forms, the second of which is a participle. A literal rendering would be “they were [continuing] making,” which emphasizes the fact that the process was continuing.

Gods of its own is rendered by Good News Translation as “their own idols” for naturalness in English in this context. Contemporary English Version says “statues of their own gods.”

The shrines of the high places … is literally “the house of the high places….” Some manuscripts of the ancient Greek, Syriac, and Latin translations have the plural “houses.” Even though the Hebrew noun is singular here, the context requires a plural sense. These were places of worship that had already been set up by the previous inhabitants of Samaria who are referred to as the Samaritans (so Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). But a literal rendering of this English term Samaritans may prove to be confusing to many readers and hearers since the word “Samaritans” may have other connotations for them, especially if read in light of the New Testament references to the Samaritans. The reference is rather to “the people of Samaria” (New Revised Standard Version) or “the Samarians.” Good News Translation translates simply “the Israelites,” but others may prefer to say “the people [or, Israelites] who had lived in Samaria before them” or “the former inhabitants of the region of Samaria” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente).

For high places, see verse 9 as well as 1 Kgs 3.2 and 2 Kgs 12.3.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .